A couple of radio DJs from Montreal--Marc-Antoine Audette and Sebastien Trudel, who are known as the "Masked Avengers"--managed to get in a phone call to U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, claiming to be French president Nicolas Sarkozy. They then posted an audio clip of the five-minute stunt to video hub YouTube--and according to just about every major news outlet, this appears to be legitimate.

Does anything scandalous get said? Not really. Palin sticks to her usual talking points, but doesn't seem to pick up on the fact that "Sarkozy" comes across as quite the buffoon, even when he implies that a recent adult film depicting a Palin lookalike was a "documentary" and when he says (in French) that he would love to go hunting for baby seals with her.

The "Masked Avengers" have pranked heads of state before, including Sarkozy himself. But given all the fever about Tuesday's hotly contested election, in which Palin may or may not be elected as the country's first female vice president, this could be their biggest contribution to the history books of hilarious and head-slapping media hoaxes.

It'd be in good company: it comes almost exactly 70 years to the day after the legitimately freaky War of the Worlds radio stunt.

About the author

Caroline McCarthy, a CNET News staff writer, is a downtown Manhattanite happily addicted to social-media tools and restaurant blogs. Her pre-CNET resume includes interning at an IT security firm and brewing cappuccinos.
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